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AFL: West Coast Eagles given four-day break says Josh Kennedy

AS much as every AFL player is motivated by the challenge of playing at the highest level week in, week out, it is nice to have a short break this week.

After the game against Brisbane at the Gabba last Saturday, we jumped on a plane and flew for about six hours.

By the time we got back to Perth we were all pretty tired, but the attraction of having a few days off was a great tonic.

We have a bye this weekend, so not having to prepare for a game means the club’s fitness staff has locked in a four-day break for us.

That presents a great chance to freshen up.

All the boys will use that time to kick back with family, catch up with friends or just chill out doing some of the things that the weekly routine doesn’t allow.

It might be a hit of golf, dropping a line in the water or just heading out of town for a few days to a favourite destination.

Some of the guys, who are originally from interstate, flew out of Brisbane back to their home states.

Hopefully, we all come back fresh and ready to go again on Thursday week when we play Essendon.

It was important to go into the break with a solid win.

The outside perception was that we would easily beat Brisbane, get the job done and just fly back to Perth.

But inside the club we knew it was going to be a challenge.

There had been some heat on the Lions and their coach Justin Leppitsch so we knew they would respond.

We had to withstand what they had and play our way, forcing them under pressure.

We have great respect for the Brisbane midfield, particularly blokes like Tom Rockliff, Dane Zorko, Daniel Rich and ruckman Stefan Martin so we knew they would take the game up to us, particularly on their home deck.

That was the way it played out, we held only a one point lead at quarter time after Jonathan Giles kicked his first goal for the club right on quarter-time.

We got going in the second quarter by kicking seven goals and that put us on the path to a really important win.

Over my time at the club, I have always enjoyed playing at the Gabba.

I haven’t always enjoyed the long haul flight, but the ground itself is similar to Subiaco Oval and we have a pretty good record at the venue.